Simple Enough
by IWantToBeScared
Summary: Emily and Katie are living on the top floor of a family owned block of flats. As an aspiring artist, Emily needs to advertise her work. Their old friend Cook works in a cafe which is perfect to display her work, but is that the only thing the small cafe has to offer her? Well, that would be telling. Hiatus: on hold until further notice, many apologies!
1. Chapter One

**A/N: Ah, I have high hopes for this story, it'll probably take me a while to update but I will aim to have long chapters in consolation. I only updated NTFA a few hours ago (ish, I'm not sure) and there's already been loads of views. Thank you guys so so much! I plan to keep this story focussed on Emily's side of the story, though if you've read NTFA you'll know that my plans tend to change, so I hope you guys enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.**

**Disclaimer: The Skins creators killed of Freddie, I wouldn't do that.**

Emily sighed, "Katie, I'm fine, honestly."  
Her sister shot her a look and scoffed, "you haven't been properly out all week, Em. I know you like staying in and painting with your music blasting but I'm sick of it, I can hear it from across the hallway you know. That old guy under you may be deaf but I'm not!"  
Emily sighed. It was true, she had spent the week in her flat, only leaving to let her playful Collie do her business on the grass outside the building.  
"Well what am I supposed to do? I need to paint if I want to make a living, you should know that, it's the same with you and your writing."  
"Yeah but that doesn't mean you have to shut yourself away from everything, don't you get lonely?"  
Emily shook her head, "I've got Tori, we're fine."  
The young dog rushed into the messy living room upon hearing her name and jumped up onto the couch between the twins, nuzzling into their visitor begging for attention.  
"Hello cheeky, have you missed me?"  
The dog barked in response as Katie scratched behind her ears.  
"Anyway, as I was saying," Katie said, "you've got to stop staying in all the time, come to the gym with me later, it's well boring when I go on my own."  
Emily rolled her eyes, "fine, but stop nagging me to leave my flat, I like staying in."  
Katie huffed and nodded in agreement.  
"Right, I'll get changed in a bit and meet you at the gym then, but we're going for lunch after."  
Katie grinned, "great, I'll just take Bandit outside so she doesn't have an accident while I'm out."  
"Would you take Tori too?"  
"What's in it for me?" Katie shot, jokingly.  
Emily smirked and put on a thoughtful look, "hmm.. well I suppose I could offer you this." She reached down beside the sofa and lifted an A3 piece of paper and studied it, keeping it facing away from her sister.  
"What is it?" Katie grabbed at the paper, but Emily moved faster, holding it out of reach.  
"Oh, I'm not sure you'd like it, I'll just have to get rid of it," Emily said teasingly, slowly turning the paper so Katie could see the other side.  
Katie squealed, "Brendon! Emily you're brilliant!"  
Tori barked at Katie and both the girls laughed, Emily patted her head and told her to get down before handing the drawing to her twin, "one Brendon Urie, in exchange for taking Tori out right now so I can get changed without her stealing my underwear again."  
Katie huffed but nodded, taking the picture and hugging Emily.

The Fitch twins wandered into the Fitch Fitness Centre, Katie in a sporty purple crop top and shorts, and Emily in a tight blue vest and shorts. They were greeted by none other than their brother at the desk, he grunted when he saw them,  
"Hello ladies, come to laugh at me wasting my summer break in here?"  
"Fuck off," Katie shot, a grin on her face, "we've come to kick people of the treadmills."  
Emily shook her head and smiled at James, "how've you been? Still following Gordon around like a lost puppy?"  
The youngest Fitch smiled sarcastically and stuck his middle finger up at the pair, "I'm fine, and I don't follow him like a lost puppy, we're equals and you know it."  
Katie snorted, "right."  
James scowled at her and handed them each a locker key before returning his attention to the computer screen in front of him. Emily and Katie made their way down the corridor and into the changing room. They put their bags in the lockers and headed for the large fitness suite.

"Girls!"  
Katie and Emily were greeted by a grinning Rob Fitch and were swept up into a Fitch hug before they could respond.  
"Hey dad," Katie smiled, "how's business?"  
"It's brilliant, Katiekins. The gym's at an all time high profit wise, the flats you're living in are full and everyone's paying their rent on time, and your mother's wedding business is booming."  
"Great, I'm well proud of her, I'll have to offer to help her sometime."  
"I'm sure she'd appreciate that. You're quiet Emsy, is something bothering you?"  
Emily's eyes were fixed on a tall dark haired woman on a rowing machine, she looked about Emily's age and, from what Emily could see, she had nice tits.  
"Emily!" Katie shook her sister, "stop fucking perving on that girl and listen to dad."  
"What? Oh, sorry. What did you say?"  
Rob chuckled and patted Emily's shoulder, "never mind, you answered my question. How's the art going? And how's the writing going, Katie?"  
Emily looked at her sister, giving her permission to respond first.  
"I've started a third book, still the Waterloo Road series, the first two have been really popular so I thought I'd keep the series going since I can add new characters when older ones leave with it being a school." She turned to Emily.  
"It's pretty good, I'm selling a few pictures each month, they don't bring in much but I've been taking requests from people which means more work and that means more money at the end of the road."  
Rob smiled and pulled his girls into another Fitch hug, "I'm so proud of you both, you know you've got my full support so don't worry about money if business drops at any point."  
Katie scoffed as they were released from the hug, "dad, we're living in the flats you own and you don't make us pay rent, I think that's enough help, we do need to look after ourselves."  
"I know, love, I'm just making sure my girls are managing."  
The three Fitches shared one last hug before Rob was called away by one of the trainers and Katie and Emily were left to fulfil the purpose of their visit to the centre.

"I'll have a foot long Oven Roast Chicken sub with lettuce, tomato, pepper and extra jalapenos, and a large Coke please."  
Katie laughed at her sister's appetite, "Christ, Em, where do you put it all?" She turned to the guy behind the counter, "I'll have half a Turkey Breast & Black Forest Ham sub with lettuce, pepper and tomato with an Iced Tea please."  
They both paid for their subs and sat down at a table by the window. Katie pulled the ham from her sandwich and nibbled at it. Emily shook her head in amusement and took a big bite of her sandwich, enjoying the spicy tingle from the jalapenos on her tongue. The older Fitch twin swallowed the contents of her mouth and looked at her sister,  
"you'll never guess who I bumped into the other day."  
Emily attempted to reply through the mouthful of food but opted for a shrug when nothing more than a muffled grunt could be heard through the delicious sub,  
"Cook! As in our James Cook who got sent down for killing that creepy fucking Foster guy!"  
Emily's eyes widened and she swallowed, "really? I thought he'd be in there for at least three more years. How was he?"  
"So did I, he said they let him out early because of the circumstances. After all, he did find out why Freddie ran away, that guy was a right creep threatening to kill him if he didn't stay away from Eff. Ugh, just thinking about him gives me the creeps," Katie shuddered as she pulled another slice of ham from her neatly put together sub, "anyway, he's actually doing really well, he said he's got a job in a sort of sandwich and tea shop, apparently it's a really nice place run by this really friendly woman and her daughter who's our age, he told me he's sharing a house with her and it's not too far from here. I got his number so I was thinking of calling him and maybe going to see how he is, Effy said she'd like to go see him and you should come with us."  
Emily nodded; her mouth was full once more. She smiled as she thought back to the cheery lad whom her sister was so fond of back in college, five years later and her sister seemed just as keen to see him, though Katie had always loved seeing old friends since the first time they moved house when they were six.

Emily finished her sub before Katie, and had stolen a bite of her sister's lunch when she had gone to use the toilet. Now she sat patiently, sipping her Coke and watching the clouds drift across the sky, waiting for her sister to finish eating. Katie swallowed the last mouthful and downed the remains of her drink. Emily stood up and thanked the boy behind the counter for preparing their lunch before her sister dragged her outside and in the direction of their flats.  
"God Em, you already thanked him when he gave it to you, are you getting confused? If you've forgotten, you like girls."  
Emily rolled her eyes at her sister, "there's such a thing as manners, Katie, I was just being polite."  
"Yeah, whatever, I need to get back; it's time for my baby's walk."  
Emily bit the inside of her cheek to avoid laughing at Katie, she never would have guessed that her sister would fuss over a dog as much as she did.  
"I'm sure she's fine Katie. Though, since you're taking her out, I think Tori needs a walk too, throwing half a tennis ball around the flat for her isn't quite the same as going out."  
"You're useless Em," Katie teased, "how she didn't have her bandana on this morning?"  
"Oh, it's somewhere in the flat I think, she lost it yesterday but I was in the middle of painting when I noticed so I didn't look."  
Katie shook her head at Emily, "what did I say? Useless."  
"It wasn't my fault it came off."  
"I was joking Em, chill."  
"I know, I just feel bad for keeping her inside all week, she loves walks."  
"Well you'll just have to make it up to her by keeping me and Bandit company when we get back, and I'll help you look for her bandana if you'll proof read what I've done so far on my book."  
Emily nodded and they walked the rest of the way in comfortable silence.

**A/N: How was it? Please review and let me know how you found the start to this new story, it really will help me get this one going, reviews always compel me to update as I hate to disappoint people. As in NTFA, I will name any songs I use at the end of each chapter, the title for the story is a song by Never Shout Never that just seemed right though isn't necessarily to do with the story itself.  
Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter Two

**A/N: So this chapter is a lot shorter than I planned but I didn't have loads of time to do it due to my step sister going into hospital (don't worry, she's pregnant not injured), also I reached an appropriate stopping point so I opted to end there and start the next chapter instead of staying on this chapter and getting stuck halfway through the next paragraph. Anyway, that's enough rubbish from me, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Do the Skins creators fangirl over Tay Jardine? Didn't think so.**

* * *

"Effy," Katie banged on the door, "come on, we're ready to go."  
The door opened and Effy stood on the other side with an amused look on her face, "patience, Katie, he isn't going anywhere."  
The three young women left the building and made their way to the bus stop at the end of the road. After a ten minute wait, the bus came and the trio paid their fares and sat at the back of the bus.  
"So what's the place called?" Effy asked, gazing out of the window.  
"I think he said Campbell's but he had his music on a bit loud, he told me we can't miss it though."  
They spent the rest of the journey chattering about Freddie's success as an actor and how they needed to contact him for a night out. Emily tuned out of the conversation and tried to think of how she would ask Cook's boss if they'd display her pictures in their cafe.

* * *

"Em!" Emily jumped and looked up to see Katie stood at the front of the bus glaring at her, "are you deaf? Come on, this is our stop."  
She felt her cheeks go red as she picked up her rucksack and rushed after Katie. Effy and Emily followed Katie through the busy streets and past big business buildings and food chain restaurants until they came across a little tea shop sat between two office blocks. The sign that hung across the window of the shop was painted; a teacup with the word 'Campbell's' written in the steam to the right of it.  
Katie grinned, "this has to be it." She pushed the door open and they stepped inside. The smell of fresh tea and lavender filled the surprisingly spacious room. Cook was clearing a table and he grinned when he saw his old friends at the door.  
"Katiekins, Eff, Emilio, I've fucking missed you!" He bounded over and wrapped his arms around all three of them.  
"Jesus, Cook, you're crushing me!" Katie spluttered as Cook loosened his grip, a sheepish look on his face.

* * *

Cook took his break and sat with Katie and Effy while Emily studied the wide range of teas on the menu and homemade cakes on display.  
"Hello love, can I get you anything?"  
Emily looked up to see a middle aged woman with short blonde hair smiling at her.  
"Um, I'm Cook's friend, Emily. The cakes all look amazing, did you make them yourself?"  
"Yes, with the help of my daughter and occasionally that troublesome young man over there. He's told me a lot about you, I'm called Gina by the way, I take it those two are Katie and Effy?" Emily nodded. "James has been dying to contact you three, he talks to Pandora and Thomas in France on Skype when he and my daughter stay at mine when they work late, and he tracked that handsome lad Freddie down after he saw him on Holby City. Then there was that awkward yet charming fellow, Jonah, I believe he's just finished training to be a doctor, his mother must be very proud, Cook went to see her the day he was released so he could track as many of you down as he could. Now he's best friends with my Naomi, she brought him to my house one night, he was a right state, I helped tidy him up and he stayed with her ever since. Sorry, I'm going on a bit aren't I? Would you like some cake?"  
Emily smiled, it was nice to see her old friend find a family of sorts.  
"Well, the one with blueberries looks too nice for me not to try, and can I have some tea too?"  
"Of course you can dear, what kind of tea would you like?"  
"I'm not sure, you pick, I'm all about experiments me."  
"Hmm, number eight is Naomi's favourite, I'll make you a mug of that and see what you think."  
Gina turned and busied herself making Emily's drink. Emily looked around the room, it was spacious yet cosy and the walls were painted with calming blue and green smoke patterns, she noted that there were no wall decorations as she contemplated her chances of having her work displayed. She turned and Gina handed her a cup of clear purple liquid and a slice of the blueberry cake.  
"That'll be two pounds fifty please, love. Tell Cook he has ten minutes of his break left, I need him to wash up while Naomi is absent."  
Emily handed Gina the money and hesitated, "is there any chance, maybe, you could ask your boss if they could display some of my pictures in here? I'm an artist and I'm trying to get some awareness of my work, I brought some with me as examples of what my style is like." Emily pulled a couple of pictures out of her bag; a painting of a collie sat on the coast, and a drawing of a small lake surrounded by trees.  
"My, you're very good, it'd be my pleasure to display some of your work in here."  
"Great, but, don't you need to clear it with whoever's in charge?"  
"I am in charge dear. Though, I will have to check with my daughter since she's the one who makes the decisions on any style changes we make. Apparently my ideas are too cliché."  
Emily smiled, "well I can do anything she wants really, though it's already really nice in here. You can have these if you like, that lake is my second home and I have plenty of pictures of my dog so I don't need either of them. My number's on the back if your daughter approves."  
"That's very kind of you, Emily, thank you. I'll be sure to show Naomi and see what she thinks, she should be coming in later."  
Emily passed the two pictures to Gina and took her tea and cake to the table to join the heated discussion Cook was having with her sister and Effy.

* * *

**A/N: So we have Cook in the story and some information on what happened to the rest of the gang, Freddie's off acting, Panda and Thomas are living in France, and good old JJ made good use of his extensive knowledge and went to med school. Please review and let me know what you think of the story so far! No songs in this chapter but I did write half of it while listening to Queen.. keep reading! **


	3. Chapter Three

**A/N: Well, it took me a while but here's another chapter. I've changed the layout a little so it's clearer, hope you guys don't mind. In other news, I've drawn a cover for this story showing the dogs as I felt they should be featured. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I can't imagine the Skins creators staying up all night reading Naomily fics then going to Tesco at half six in the morning for Cornflakes..**

* * *

Emily frowned at her bandana-less dog as she bounced around her room, "Tori, what the fuck have you done with it this time?"

The ball of fur stopped and gave her owner a confused look.

"Bandana. Find it."

Tori disappeared and left Emily lying on her bed with her thoughts. It had been two days since she had given Cook's boss some of her work and she hadn't heard from her. She rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling, wondering who Naomi might be and how she could persuade her to use some of her work in the tea shop, she really needed the publicity for her work to get her name out there.

She jumped when her collie leapt on top of her, "Jesus! Oh, you found it, good girl." Emily took the purple bandana from the dog and tied it around her neck, "what the-? Trust you to dip it in my paint. Oh well, sky blue does look quite nice with that shade of purple," she rubbed the paint off her fingers on her jeans, "come on, let's go see how Katie is."

.

Emily opened Katie's door and Tori ran in ahead of her. The living room was tidy as usual, even Katie's desk which was covered in sheet of paper probably covered in ideas for her book were arranged neatly around her laptop. Emily made a mental note to at least pick up her pictures and put them on her coffee table.

"Em?" Katie called through from her kitchen, "what are you doing here?"

Emily walked through to the kitchen and saw her sister lying on the floor with her little black Shiba Inu lying on her, Tori was sat next to Katie's head looking proud of herself for finding the duo.

"I just thought I'd come say hi. Why are you on the floor and why is Bandit on top of you?"

Katie sighed and sat up, lifting her dog off her, "I had writer's block and I was too hot so I came and lay down in here to cool off since it's a wood floor, Bandit followed me in and cuddled into me."

"That seems ..logical? Anyway, since you're not busy, maybe we could take the dogs out or go to the gym for a bit. I see you got Bandit a new bandana, red looks way better than pink on her."

Katie stood up, "okay, sure, whatever. But you really need to teach Tori not to lick people's faces, it's well gross, and I kinda had to get another one after _your_ dog ripped her old one."

"She's just showing affection, Katie, she's a dog. You can't put all the blame on her for it, they were both pulling on it when it ripped."

"And dogs can be taught things just like people. Just because you saved her from being run over when she was a puppy doesn't mean you need to let her get away with everything."

"Says the one who babies her dog. I don't let her get away with everything."

The twins raised their eyebrows at each other and stood like that for a moment before erupting in laughter.

"Fucking hell, how old are we? I just don't want my make up being licked off every time I see her."

"I don't know about you but I'm twenty three. Are we going out or what?"

"Yep, gym sounds good, we'll walk the dogs there and get dad to keep them in his office while we're there, yeah?"

.

.

.

"What the fuck are you doing bringing them in here?"

Katie shot James a look of warning, "is dad in today?"

"Maybe. What's it to you?"

Katie swiftly reached across the desk and slapped him round the side of the head before he could react.

"Bitch! Why should I tell you when you're embarrassing those dogs by putting pussy bandanas on them? They'd look fucking ace with spiked collars."

Emily raised an eyebrow at him, "fuck off, James. They look adorable, and the last time I checked you weren't exactly capable of looking after another living thing so you can't really talk."

He screwed his face up as he rubbed the side of his head. Katie huffed and went round the desk. She picked up the phone and punched in the code for dad's office.

"Hey dad, it's Katie, me and Em were wondering if you could keep Bandit and Tori in your office for an hour or two while we're in the fitness suite. Yeah, we can wait for Grace to come get them, thanks. Love you too."

.

"Hey Gracie, how've you been?" Emily smiled at our slightly younger cousin as she came over to us.

"Yeah, how's the dancing going?" Katie chipped in.

"I've been wonderful thank you Emily, and it's going great Katie." She grinned at the sisters then looked at the dogs, "so do I have the pleasure of looking after these beauties for a while instead of running the old folks' synchronised swimming session?"

Katie and Emily exchanged looks and all three of them started laughing.

"Yeah, you get a break," Emily grinned, handing her Tori's hounds tooth lead.

Katie followed suit and the Fitches bid Grace farewell before getting themselves ready for some exercise.

.

.

One ninety minute workout and a steaming cup of tea later, and Katie and Emily were on their way to the busier part of town to see Cook with the dogs in tow. Tori was trotting along in front of them with a huge stick in her mouth and her gorgeous fluffy tail in the air, and Bandit was ambling along beside Katie looking up at her with a goofy dog grin on her face every ten minutes or so.

They rounded a corner onto one of the main high streets and chatted nonchalantly as they headed to Campbell's. Emily thought about Gina and her pictures but forced them to the back of her mind, if they didn't show her work she would just have to ask elsewhere. When the pair got to the cafe, they tied their furry companions to a provided metal ring next to a water bowl by the door and went inside. Katie frowned when she saw that there was no sign of Cook and went to the counter where a blonde woman, about the same age as the sisters, was stood staring at a newspaper with an unimpressed look on her face. Emily stood just inside the doorway with her full attention on the blonde, she felt butterflies gather in her stomach when the woman looked up revealing a pair of gorgeous blue eyes.

She shook her head and muttered to herself, "fucks sake, she's probably straight, get a grip."

"Where's Cook?" Katie demanded, keen to track him down.

"He took the day off, said he found some old friends the other day on he's gone with one of them to see another friend. Why? Wait, you're Katie, you have to be, and that has to be Emily," the blonde gestured to Emily, "I'm his best mate, Naomi, I've heard a lot about you two. He's with Effy, told me they were going to see Freddie to arrange something."

"She didn't fucking tell me, now we've come here for nothing!" Katie threw her arms in the air and turned to her amused sister.

"Katie, we can still get a drink while we're here, and I'm starving after being in the gym."

"Fine. Get me something edible and a proper brew, coffee, not that herbal shit." Katie strutted away from Naomi and sat at a table. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and started a text to Effy.

Emily rolled her eyes and went over to the counter, "sorry about her, she's a little impatient. Naomi, right? I'm Emily, like you said, I met your mum the other day, she was nice."

Naomi sighed, "she's a cliché."

"Well she's a nice cliché. Um, can I get a couple of slices of blueberry cake, a coffee, and.."

"And..?"

"I don't know what it was called, Gina made it for me, said it was your favourite."

"The purple herbal tea?" Emily nodded. "Is that everything?" Emily nodded again. "It'll take a minute."

Emily stood and watched Naomi busy herself making her order. She was wearing a black shirt under a grey hoodie, and tight jeans that Emily appreciated when she turned around. Emily paid when the drinks were ready and took them over to where Katie was sat.

"You totally checked her out didn't you?" Katie smirked as soon as her sister had sat down.

"What? No," Emily responded, a little too quickly and a little too high pitched to persuade her sister. Katie's smirk grew and Emily sighed, "okay, yes, I did. So?"

"So ask her out."

"Don't be stupid, she's probably straight. And even if she wasn't, why would she want to go on a date with me? She's beautiful and I'm just me."

"_You're_ beautiful, Ems. I'm not even being biased. Look, you were too busy yapping away to that Gina woman the other day and missed the conversation but Cook said he's tight as fuck with her and when we asked if he'd got into her pants he said no. You know he shags every girl he possibly can, so she's got to be a total lezzer."

Emily frowned at her sister and drank her tea. Katie had made a fair point, and Emily felt her heart leap up into her mouth at the thought of asking out a woman she had barely spoken to yet already found herself fond of.

When they had finished their cake and beverages, Katie and Emily stood up and headed for the door. Katie nudged Emily towards the counter where Naomi was stood reading her newspaper again.

"Naomi?" Emily looked unsurely at the blonde.

"Yes? Was everything okay?" Naomi looked up and smiled at Emily.

"Yeah, it was lovely thank you. I was, well, I was wondering, would you like to go on a date with me?"

* * *

**A/N: How was this chapter? Please review and share your thoughts! I'm starting to wish I'd written in first person, can't really change now though, unless you guys say you'd like me to switch to first person. **

**I've just read The Bend In The Wave by Hyperfitched who is possibly my favourite author, if you haven't already.. go read it! Also, her story I Hold A Force I Can't Contain is brilliant and had me in tears many times when I read it months ago, so I recommend that one too. I'll try to update NTFA soon, though I still have lots of work to do and I'm getting my GCSE results tomorrow (they will be awful but A levels are more important so oh well). Keep reading!**


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